Dark Times: Rebecca story
by Yokatami-kun
Summary: Well into her work with the B.S.A.A., Rebecca has found it hard to maintain focus on her work. Not fully recovering from the events of July 23, 1998, she finds her fight for recovery just as serious a battle as her fight against Bioterror, but a new nightmare in the works, joint operations with TerraSave, and numerous failures along the way, she's no choice but to keep fighting.
1. Chapter 1

**Jan. 19th, 2003, 10:47pm**

A fiery explosion filling the air with its orange flames, a large hulking beast howling through the combustion, and a pounding migraine, another day on the job for a member of the B.S.A.A. Though a day like this could only bring back memories of a certain someone for Rebecca, someone long gone. It seemed that those memories had become quite routine in these kinds of monstrous situations. She had an idea why, but what good would dwelling on it do her now?

With a rather rough and weak sigh, she tried to get up onto her feet. The room had now become engulfed in flames and the once large library was now nothing more than a box of burning paper and wood. Embers filling the air and her lungs, smoke slowly replacing the oxygen in the room, and the constant crackling of burning wood about to snap, the room didn't have much time left before it gave in and collapsed upon itself.

"Jason, help!" the small brunette cried out.

Her leg was stuck under a piece of a fallen support column sent down by their attacker and she couldn't move fast enough to free herself before said attacker would reach her. A goal It seemed to be adamant on completing. Just a bit of cover fire was all she needed, a small distraction to buy her a little time, and yet, like the rest of her unit, even Jason "the hero" Fleck ran off after 3 seconds of staring at the monstrosity before them.

With a grimace and a quick grunt, she, regrettably, forced her foot free with a sudden yank of her ankle. She had originally thought to lift the large obstruction, would have been safer, but no, she was given no choice and now she was going to pay the price for it. She quickly started to run for the door but it turned into more of a limp shortly after it began.

 _No, just a bit further!_ She could see her way out and already knew the sight she would see on the other side of the double doors, her unit with their tails between their legs and piss in their pants, that is, if Jason hadn't just shut them behind him. In a cowardly panic he thought to shut them both and secure them with his rifle to keep his fear from thrashing its way out and keeping him in danger any longer. To the other's outside with him, it would have seemed just as his name had implied, heroic, but to the sacrifice it showed to be obvious cowardice and self preservation above anything else.

With a loud thud, she rammed her small frame into the mildly singed doors and got a cloud of ash and dust back as a response. She kept trying, trying her hardest to get the doors open, but unfortunately reality had to set in and her survival sense had to kick in as well. Staying there any longer was only going to make things worse.

 _Dammit, I can't believe this!_ She bit her lip in a bout of nervous frustration. She could hear its footsteps drawing closer to her, it's inflamed howl cracking and bursting through the air. Her team had officially screwed her.

Turning to face her opponent, she gulped and immediately followed it with a deep sigh before crying out at the large hulking beast.

"Come on you big dummy, I'm right here!"

 **2 hours earlier**

"Now as any agent knows, a B.O.W. is nothing to mess around with. Orders are orders and a mission is a mission just the same, but it is NOT yours. We've managed to wound the target but It's up to you now to finish the evacuation efforts and get these people to safety. Avoid combat at all cost, take no risk, and for you , I don't need another casualty report staining my desk. Now deploy!"

"Sir!" the team shouted in response to their commanding officer. It was at that moment that the slender black air vessel they all had taken their seats within began to rise from the rain covered helipad they had been retrieved from, and ascended from both their Commanding officer, Brigadier General Sutherlin, and the headquarters of the North American branch of the B.S.A.A.

Of the Five man team that had been given orders, two closed the sliding doors on both sides of the helicopter. One being Jason, and the other being Rebecca.

She found her eyes glued to the moon and her mind entranced in thought over the last thing her commander said. I don't need another casualty report staining my desk. It was true, there had been a death on her watch, more so, one she herself had caused. The thought of it never left her mind, and found itself growing more vivid and dreadful at the worst of times. The wound she had caused, the screams..

With a small sigh, she removed her eyes from the window. Looking down upon herself, she made sure her vest was strapped tight, shoelaces were tied, and double checked that her leg holstered firearm was fully loaded. She did this before every mission, almost a ritual, seeing as she felt it saved her life during her mission back in 98'.

 _If only it could have saved me, Rebecca._

She paused for a moment, gun in hand and eyes on the trigger. She shuddered a bit at the sound of that voice. Even now, the thoughts of such a monumental failure tortured her. _You're not here, not anymore. Please.._ she muttered in response, but not low enough to evade the attention of the man sitting adjacent to her.

"Didn't you hear a word he said Raccoon? No combat, or is shooting all you Survivors can do." Sneered the dark skinned male with a smirk on his face. Anthony Brooks.

In the times to follow after the outbreak in Raccoon City, the idea of a virus of such a magnitude spreading so quickly left many baffled. So much so the surrounding cities and in some cases states, found themselves quarantining those who had escaped with their lives and even refusing to accept them in out of fear of the virus being tracked with them. It was due to these incidents that the American populace began to develop a new kind of hate, a kind toward those who had survived such an atrocious event. Members of higher ranking status in society saw their lives fall to dust as no one was willing to support them, civilians and heroes were left homeless and unable to find work, and the media seemed intent on pushing the chaos even further with headlines such as "Are your children safe?" "Shocking footage of Raccoon survivor coughing up a storm! Could it be the virus?" "Junkie? Or Zombie? Find out which attacked local officer during traffic stop!" And so on and so forth. They were making the most out of the ordeal.

It was becoming impossible for anyone of Raccoon to live a normal life again, but even so, there were still some survivor success stories. Take for instance, a rookie cop and a tenacious redheaded woman who happened to cross paths.

Leon, a new recruit to the RPD, managed to gain connections and ties through the government and found himself working as a secret service agent. _The beautifully redheaded woma-_ Claire, joined the anti-bioterrorism group Terrasave which had established itself after the event, and a few smaller events that followed. It was at that point that she gained authority as a partial member of the B.S.A.A., an organization founded by her brother Chris Redfield and his previous partner Jill Valentine, and found a new purpose in life, stopping Umbrella Pharmaceuticals from ever doing doing such a horrific thing ever again.

Those of the Raccoon City S.T.A.R.S. unit, the first to encounter Umbrella's sinister monsters, who survived found new homes working for the B.S.A.A., feeling as though they had unfinished business with Umbrella, granted not as much as Chris, all but Barry Burton who had opted to stay with his family. Even with thes survival stories and tales of somewhat happy endings, none of it stopped men like Anthony from feeling prejudice towards them and those around them.

"Hey man don't tease her too much, she might turn into a plant or something and eat ya." chimed in another member, Billy Trebeck. That name, every time Rebecca heard it she felt a small, depressing, tick In the back of her mind. Though she had come a long way since that name held relevance, thinking back onto it now would only make things complicated again. Besides, at the moment, such a name was mocking her existence.

"Sometimes I wonder just how you guys made it this far in life to begin with. You sound like the same bumpkins who would tell a hispanic to go back to Mexico even if he was from Columbia." The words slipped out of the side of her mouth before she could process what was said, but even so, she didn't regret saying it. Before joining her squad she had received a lifetime of training with her new "team" and hated every bit of it. They all seemed like a group of jerks fresh out of junior high, though it's not like she spent much time there, more of an in and out experience really.

Not long after her comment though did their Radios all simultaneously begin to speak.

"..okay, extraction team can you read me?" came a female voice, one that almost sounded familiar.

"Yes, we read you loud and clear." responded Rebecca in an eager tone. She honestly couldn't wait to be out out of the confined space with her team of grunts.

"Glad to hear it Rebecca. Once you've landed, meet with me about 60 meters west of the LZ. I've got survivors held up in a classroom on the second floor of the science wing." that voice. Something about that voice just got to Rebecca, but in a way similar to butterflies in her stomach.

"Roger that. Our ETA should be about 5 minutes, see you on the ground." 5 minutes. Within that time large rifles were loaded, the team reviewed their route options and gathered mental images of the college campus, and roles were assigned in case of an emergency situation.

Rebecca was jokingly assigned monster negotiator and held the only defined role.

The team refused her medical help claiming they didn't need to be infected, so if such a situation were to happen, she was left with civilian management.

 _They got all the glory of battle and she got what, babysitting? Fair enough, if something did happen, then they'd just die a hero's death. Wait woah, not cool Becca. Get a grip girl._

The helicopter began to slow its speed and begin its descent onto the center square. The current situation: a t-virus outbreak started and contained within the campus. Advance squads have already engaged a large mutated hostile but as of current its where abouts have become unknown.

 **Author's note:** Hey! So this umm.. is my first crack at something like this and well, thank you for giving it a shot. Reviews are welcomed and I hope you guys enjoyed the read. Even if you didn't though, I'll still keep going till ya do! *warps away*


	2. Chapter 2

**_Once again, you have stepped into the world of survival horror. Good luck!_**

Yenson Tross University. One of the highest ranking schools in the country. Favored for its biochemistry program, students come from all over the world to test their smarts and utilize the best available curriculum in the field. Now is it unfortunate, or ironic that this would be the stage for another outbreak?

From the moment their feet hit the ground, Rebecca's focus was quickly placed onto her mission. The woman's words ringing loud and clear in her mind, _60 meters west of the LZ. Second floor of the science wing._

Rebecca didn't waste a second. The minute they hit the ground, she found herself quickly calling out, "Let's move, our contacts waiting for us!" rifle in hand, a T91 assault with a strap that reached over her shoulder, she turned her attention toward the large building ahead of them. Where the surrounding areas remained dark, there seemed to be a fair amount of light coming from their destination. Random sections of light were shining brightly from scattered areas and windows. Now rather that was luck, a signal, or a trap, would be decided once they were inside. The scent in the air was regrettably familiar, blood, and lots of it. Though not in view, or simply hidden by the dark campus, there had to be bodies nearby, and where there were dead, the undead couldn't be too far behind. She felt a chill equally as familiar slither down her spine. There was just something about blood that one could just never get used to on the job, but with an objective at hand there was no choice but to tough through it.

"Who do you think you are barking orders Raccoon? Fall in line, we don't need you running off to get bit." Lilian Cross this time. The last member of the team, she was the self proclaimed "smart one" of the group and as the other claimed, the only girl in the team (Rebecca simply being a "thing"). _Maybe you should be the one doing it then Lilz. Sure you'd look real cute as a corpse. Shit. Becca, stop that._

"Look we can talk crap all day but we've got a job to do so let's fucking do it." Frustrated and impatient, Rebecca went to her radio for guidance. "Hello, come in. We've landed and are on route to your location. What is your status? Over." 5 seconds pass before a static heavy reply, "..re okay for now. There are 4 of us an.. ..e in caution color yellow." Caution color yellow is in reference to the damage assessment system developed after the Raccoon City incident. Judging from the physical condition and type of wound, the status can be registered under, fine green, caution yellow, caution orange, and danger red. "Are they infected?" "... no." "Alright. We'll be there soon with medical supplies. Be ready for immediate evac." Leaving the channel Rebecca looked back to her team. Her expression didn't exactly say "hey come give me a hug", it was more of a look of pure disgust, but she managed to warp an awkward smile onto it, giving Trebeck quite a scare. "Now let's go, grunts."

She stepped away, shifting into a quick pace toward the entrance of the western structure. The rest of the team followed after, but at a pretty unenthusiastic pace. _Running off to get bit_ , was a common thought amongst them, one even letting it slip their tongue.

Upon reaching the double doors, through the two small windows at the doors' upper halves were beams of light indicating that there was visibility inside. That was step one, next was enemy presence. She paused momentarily, listening carefu-

"What are you doing? Just kick it in. And you call yourself a soldier." Or at least she would have been if Jason hadn't opened his big mouth.

With a large sigh, she ignored him, but with the base of his voice, if something really had been there, it would have already come out by now, so at least he was good for something. _Nothing stopping us now I guess_ , tugging on the door slowly, she reached at her side arm, pulling it from her thigh holster and aimed it inside before quickly tossing it open and entering. The team behind her decided there was no reason to worry and simply entered normally.

The hall they had entered was quite large. Within the immediate area were the two large potted plants on each end of the entrance and two round discussion tables sitting on either end a large staircase that split and turned around upon the second floor. At the center of the forward wall above them was a stained glass window depicting a weeping angel with her arms stretched outward toward both sides of the staircases split, a couple rooms being visible over the balconies that were extended from the railing of said staircase's split.

To either side of them, there were two extending hallways, to the left a short and open one, leading to turn further into the building, and to the right a long and narrow, heading for another open area. _If this were the Scooby-Doo gang, this would have been where Fred would have no choice but to utter the words-_

"Hey maybe we should split up guys."

 _Gang, but close enough._

"You have got to be kidding me here. We know their on the second floor, we have an established line of contact, and-"

"Hey who's team leader hear Raccoon? Now I'm a bit tired of hearing you running your mouth. You may have managed to get your last team killed but not us. Now if you want to go run off to your zombie friends then by all means do it, but we're gonna look for anymore survivors. Lilian, you're with me, Anthony and Billy, take the corner. Raccoon can handle the second floor, after all, she handled a whole city."

 _..jason, Jason, JASON! What a natural born idiot. Fine, I'll do it, but your sorry ass.. ugh! I hate going to Chris but this is one of those times._ With a huff and a tight squeeze on her gun, Rebecca didn't reply, but simply turned away and began to make her way upward. As she climbed she heard the distant sounds of the team high fiving each other and laughing off the incident. Rebecca was good at tuning out the idiotic nonsense, but this time she was pissed. It was one thing to be all talk during training, but it was another to act like this during the real deal.

There was a job that needed to be done, rescue the survivors, and with all her ability she was going to see that be completed.. unfortunately alone. Reaching the split at the top of the first set of stairs, she found herself taking a left, if the asshole that made them split up went right, then with all the horrible things she found herself wishing upon him she sure enough wanted to be as far away as she could. Taking another left onto the landing before her, there were 2 doors on her right with small glass windows on the top right toward the center of them and a split into a hallway. The hallway ahead was barely lit, assumably from random intervals of lights being turned off in attempt to hide from the dead. It would have been safe to assume that their plans had worked, if not for the smell in the air.

 _God it must have been chaotic here at the start. So many people running and screaming, just try to get away._

Slowly, she stepped forward, one foot in front of the other until she reached the first door. She listened close, effectively this time without distraction. Nothing. The light was off so she couldn't make a visual, so with a big gulp, she clicked the flashlight of her pistol on, shifted her rifle down behind her hip, and reached for the knob. Locked. So, she made her way to the next door. Reaching for her radio, she pressed her finger upon the "talk" button twice to signal a static response. There was no echo, so they weren't too close by, so, she pressed on, reaching the hallway split, pausing to check her surroundings. Both sides were clear, but one room to her right, _thank god it was the right_ , stood out.

At the end of the short hallway was a light, bright and shining through the window upon the door. She carefully took her time, making her way toward the room. She double tapped her radio again. No response. Whoever was in the room, it wasn't their contact. She had to be careful about these kinds of situations. Outbreaks can cause panic and panic can lead to irrational decisions. Living or dead, there was always a threat present. Stepping closer, passing the first door in the hall, she stopped, or more like, someone made her stop. She was quick to raise her pistol, both hands steadying her aim, and narrowing her sight.

"You're not here. you couldn't be.. and I'm sorry for that."

 _Rebecca!_

She blinked, and in an instant, the figure before her was gone, almost just as fast as they had come. She shook her head, trying to gather herself from what just happened. _It wasn't him. You know that Becca, now don't forget it._ She sighed softly then continued to the door. She pressed herself against the wall and slowly slid her way toward the window taking a small peek inside. There was one figure inside, standing at the center of the room. She couldn't quite make out any details through the foggy glass, but whoever it was seemed still.

 _Thump thump._

She knocked on the door softly to get their attention. The response would be what solved the puzzle. 10 seconds. 20. And then 30. No response, no sound of movement, nothing. So she gently pushed the door open.

Looking inside, the figure in the center was a female. She seemed like the geeky type, not that Rebecca was one to judge. She wore a pixelated kitten sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black high tops that covered her feet dangling inches from the floor. Nearly covered by her peach to violet tipped hair was what appeared to be an HDMI cable, tightly wound around her neck and tied around a pipe exposed from the soft tile ceiling. Seems she couldn't handle the situation around her, not many can, and those who do, they don't always come out the same. _Poor girl._

She double tapped her radio again, stepping forward to the corner to her right, and turning down the next hall. This hall was fully lit, minus the 4 rooms that belonged to it. All of them dark, assumably empty, she figured it was time she stopped playing around and picked up her pace. Shuffling forward in a bit of a power walk style jog, she quickly made it through the long hall, checking her radio once reaching the end. This time, there was a faint echo, but it was quickly outmatched by the sounds of a low snarl heading in its direction. _Shit!_

Around the next corner, stood the stumbling corpse of a student in his solid black hoodie. It seemed that she unintentionally lured one of them to the survivors, but, it still seemed a bit confused as to where exactly it was being lured to. It shuffled about the hall, lost as the sound had been bouncing off of the walls, so it, doing nearly the same. Rebecca pulled her firearm, turned right once again, and aimed. It was just one, but, the situation would be best if it stayed that way. With that thought in mind, she put it down, opting instead to pull her combat knife, which sat sheathed next to her sidearms holster.

Closing in quickly, she reached for the hood, yanking her victim into a backwards stumble before driving her blade straight through its forehead. There was a low grunt when she attacked, the force she used was a bit more than she was used to after all. Having survived a situation with corpses that had been decaying for more than an a few hours, the fresh ones were always a bit tougher, after all they Were closer to killing a living person. Yanking her knife back, she let the body fall. There was a sudden thud when it hit the ground, a gross sound to hear from a lifeless body.

She wiped her knife clean before putting it back in its sheath, zombie brain matter not being something anyone wanted to bring home after all, and pulled her radio one last time.

"Hello? I'm right outside. I took care of the corpse so, open the door?"

A door to her right cracked open just a bit. She entered the room and sighed in relief after closing the door behind her. Taking a look around, it seemed the group had managed to gather themselves and stay calm through the ordeal. 2 were wounded as far as she could tell, but not from bites. Cuts and scrapes more or less. Well, potentially 3. A woman in a black leather jacket was on one knee, attending to a man's leg, as far as Rebecca could tell from the angle and the absence of light.

"Alright, let me notify my team and we can start to work on getting you guys out of here-

"Not so fast Rebecca. There's another situation at hand that we should get on first."

"And what's that?"

"There's someone we have to find. A little boy. He got scared and ran off."

The woman in the black jacket stood and turned to face Rebecca. The light beaming in from the small door window only showing a small smile upon her face.

"Besides, it's been too long just to say goodbye again, don't you think?"

Stepping forward the woman revealed herself, starting with her scarlet red hair. It was at that moment Rebecca found herself thrown a step back. Small spots of pink sprouting onto her cheeks, she couldn't help but call out to the figure before her.

"Claire?!"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Are those footsteps you hear the sound of the living.. or the dead?**_

Claire couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Rebecca's reaction. She was glad the girl was happy to see her, but there was no need to be dramatic about it. Opening her arms, she found herself within a tight embrace, just as she had prepared to speak. Smiling warmly, she exhaled and hugged her back. Figuring she would let the girl girl enjoy the moment.

Rebecca's cheeks found themselves even pinker once she realized what she was doing. Pulling away quickly and attempting to regain her composure, she cleared her throat and returned to the tasked on hand, lightly fanning her face with hand as she spoke.

"S-so about this boy, what's the full situation?"

She stepped back and leaned against the door.

"His names Marcus. He's about 12 years old. The kids a real genius, and was here for a tour of the campus, but then.. everything went down. I happened to have been on campus speaking with a candidate for recruitment when it all started and I noticed him hiding in a bush. It would seem his escort.. didn't make it."

"Poor kid. They're always the ones who seem to have it the roughest after these kinds of things."

"You're telling me? I hear that Sherry's still pretty shaken up even after all this time, but I haven't been able to see her unfortunately. We have to find him before anything happens, I won't let a child die, not while there's still something I can do about it. We lost him down in the yard when a crowd of student decided to be tough and fight a herd of zombies. Needless to say, it didn't end well, but I do remember him heading toward the dorms. Hopefully he remembered what I told him, to hide, wait, and listen."

Claire folded her arms, tucking them firmly beneath her chest and huffed. Rebecca knew how she was when it came to uncomfortable situations and she could tell she was feeling horrible about this one. Sliding her hand beneath her chin and stopping to think, Rebecca had to gather some sort of a plan. Her mission above all else was to rescue the survivors, but what topped out here? The boy or the group? Well luckily she had a.. team. _Shit_. She forgot about the rest of her party.

Grabbing her radio, she hit the button and sent out an alert.

"Everyone can you hear me? Our contact is safe and I've secured 8 other survivors but we have another in need of rescue. A young boy by the name of Marcus has taken shelter in the dorms."

Jason was the first to reply.

"Nice job zombie bait. Anthony and co, get on it. Me and Lilz are almost done down here so meet back up in the lobby."

 _Zombie bait? Ugh._

"Understood."

Next came Anthony with a snicker.

"Try not to bite anyone on the way."

Rebecca's face found its way buried into her hand as a disapproving shake of her head came about.

"Quite the professionals you got there huh Becca?"

Claire stepped forward pulling Rebecca into a one armed comfort. Rebecca found herself too embarrassed and ashamed to blush, more so she wanted to punch everyone of them in the jaw before hiding away in some hole. Of all the times to be such a way, and over their radio comms no less. Calling them idiots felt like an understatement at this point.

"C-come on. Let's get you guys out of here and down to the lobby, after that, Claire, you and I can go help search for the boy."

Rebecca pulled away and wiped her hand over her face, a way to mentally prepare herself for more idiocy, and opened the door. Drawing her pistol once again, she scanned the hall before giving the all clear for Claire and the crew to follow her lead.

Once back into the main hall a chopper was called from the radio comm, and the group being escorted were passed along to the medical teams. Before being lifted off, Rebecca opted out of carrying her rifle, passing it along to the helicopter crew to aid them instead in further efforts all over campus. Claire, Rebecca, Jason, and Lilian stayed behind to participate and aid in the rescue of Marcus and any others they run across.

"The hero" wasted no time in introducing himself the redhead he would be having the pleasure of working with today. With a hand extended forward out came his suddenly deeper and close enough a Chris impersonated voice.

"The names Jason. Nice to meet you ma'am."

Almost immediately, Claire snickered and in no time at all it became a much more definite burst of laughter as she found herself huddled against Rebecca, also enjoying the comedic performance.

"Hah, haha.. Th-this has to be some sort of joke you set up right? He can't possibly be serious can he?"

Claire could barely speak, her laughter getting the best of her as the now embarrassed jock attempted a to learn why.

"Um, excuse me but what's so funny?"

More laughter as the routine continued.

"You have got to be kidding me right? I mean really? Impersonating my brother of all people? Hah! Claire Redfield by the way."

And in an instant she regained her composure and shook Jason's hand. Rebecca, still attempting to control herself slowly calmed down, wiping the tears from her eyes and taking a small breath.

"You guys had better be on your best behavior, I'd hate to see your squad disbanded for insubordination, or am I just speaking "Raccoon" to you?"

Ouch, her grip tightened as one could easily tell from Jason's sudden flinch. After the jokes that were told earlier, it would seem that if anyone were to get bit, he'd be on her menu first, _the lucky bastard._ _I'd have made sure he suffered. Ah to hell with censoring myself, he's an asshole._

Humiliated and, mildly, frightened, Jason retreated back to the side of Lilian who was giving him a glare so cold that Rebecca could have sworn she saw his breath for a moment. With a bit of a slow pivot, Claire turned her attention back over to Rebecca, giving her a small wink before stepping off toward the exit.

"You ready to go? Good, then let's move out."

I can't tell what hurt worse, his hand or his ego. _Poor bastard_.

Claire retrieved her own holstered weapon from within her jacket, and pushed the door in front of her. The yard was still just as empty as when Rebecca and Co. had arrived, which Rebecca took as a sign of good fortune. Following behind her, when Claire scanned one direction Rebecca handled the other, the two covering each other's backs as a real team should, while Lilian and Jason found themselves once again, feeling it all to be stupid and a waste of time.

Once the area was deemed safe, the group charged straight toward the dormitory. Reaching the 4 story tall structure, the first thing to note was the pitch black darkness. Unlike the science wing there were no stray lights, only empty, black windows scattered all about the building's exterior. This was a bad situation, a dangerous one.

Flashlights clicked on, ammo was checked, and large grins grew on Lilian and Jason's mouths and paired themselves with bright gleaming eyes. _This was going to be something, but rather that be a good thing or a bad one still remained undetermined, my money's on bad._

Claire and Rebecca remained on sidearms, while the other two opted for their large rifles, evening out the party to a duo of power and one of swift precise action. It could work out well, everyone just had to stay smart and focused.

Pulling the door open quickly, the three behind Claire all aimed forward, ready for whatever would come sprawling out. Fortunately, there was nothing there. _Good_. With a quick leap, Claire went in first, the light from everyone's weapons painting a clear image of the inside corridor and her quickly shrinking backside. Rebecca followed soon after, then following her were the remaining two. The took their time, keeping a close eye out, splitting and checking every door along the corridor as carefully as possible. To Jason and Lilian it felt like an eternal waste of time, but in the end, it was all necessary and they found themselves unable to argue.

The first section of the hall was dead, or rather a better choice of words, empty. Nothing lurking in the dark, no boy, no zombies, no.. dogs, just disheveled rooms left ransacked by the students who managed to get their things and run. At this rate, it was going to take hours to find Marcus, hours they didn't have. Rebecca couldn't believe what she was about to say, she knew she was going to regret it, but, there didn't seem to be any other option in the matter.

"Jason.. Remember the "A.K." formation you came up with..?"

 _Horrible.. horrible name. They were lame, but.. why so bad as to name it-_

"You talkin' about ass kicker? Hell yeah I remember!"

 _Ugh.. this'll be fun.._

"..use it."

The look on his face was one Rebecca wouldn't soon forget. A huge, grin stretching from ear to ear with more teeth showing then she thought humanly possible, eyes so wide his pupils looked like little specs that had fallen on the white balls that protruded from his face, and as tight as he gripped his gun, one could have assumed it was going to snap within his hands if he held it any longer.

"Racc-.. Rebecca, you just might be alright after all."

She looked away feeling herself blush just a tad bit, but disgusted at the thought of it. Jason found himself too excited to notice as he gave a swift nod to Lilian. The two were practically shaking with excitement as they reached two unexplored doors.

They each took a deep breath, then kicked as hard as they could, sending the doors crashing open and quickly aimed their rifles. The idea behind the formation was to quickly dispose of the enemy while using the noise created to draw out more. In theory it would speed things along a hell of a lot faster, and, it could draw potential threats away from Marcus. Once the room was noted as clear they sprinted to the next. After about 3 sets within about 15 seconds, the noise seemed to have had an effect on something in the area. The sounds of someone making their way down a split in the corridor near the steps in the far back quickly reaching the two's ears. Jason and Lilian took point, leaping over and aiming their rifles and flashlights down the hall.

Three of them were shuffling toward them at a quickened pace, zombies, that is. This was nothing for Jason and Lilian to take care of, and they demonstrated that with the hail of " _awesome_ " gunfire they sent upon the enemy, but then, what were they going to do about the large wall of flesh behind them that now seemed to have moved and began heading their way?

As " _awesome_ " as they were, they weren't too experienced in the field, they hadn't paid enough attention to have realized that there was a large B.O.W. standing right behind the small fry and now, they have it's attention. It was massive in size, taking up a fair portion of the hall with its shoulder width nearly touching each wall. It was slouched over,meaning it had to have been taller than this ceiling could support. The light wasn't enough to fully illuminate the target, but what was seen was enough. The pair opened fire, now lighting up the hall with blinding light. Anything in the building would be on it's way soon with this amount of noise, and that fact all it took to make a good idea bad.

Without even realizing what was happening, Rebecca had a feeling in her gut that they were in trouble, and she wasn't wrong. Her and Claire had stood at the center of the hall watching as the two put their plan in action, and with her arms folded beneath her chest and a gleaming smirk laid across her face, it would seem that Claire approved, but that all changed once she noticed the excessive fire. Either they weren't that great at aiming and couldn't hit the mark, or, whatever it was they were hitting wasn't going down. Curious, Claire made a decision and was much more than pleasantly surprised by the result. Upon seeing what was nearly within a yard from the two junior soldiers, Claire quickly snatched Jason by his collar and darted toward other. She realized just as she managed to get a hold of Lilian that if she attempted to head back toward Rebecca there would be no guarantee that she succeed in passing the beast without some injury. With no clear image of what it's form was and no idea what sort of action it would take, it was too much of a risk to go stomping into it's hit box. So, she chose the stairs.

The three made their way upward, the grunts being pushed forward by Claire, all while Rebecca stood confused in the center of the hall. Aiming her weapon for light, she soon was able to see the danger ahead and realized, in that instant, just how bad things had become. No not Claire! With a huge gulp, She opened fire. Two shots straight for the only mound of flesh she could see.

It was enough to get the beast's attention, and much more. More undead pal's came shuffling from behind it at a quickened pace. It seemed her impulse was more effective on them than the target. At a disadvantage and out of options, Rebecca found herself regrettably fleeing the dorms. Bolting for the door they had entered, it seemed her pursuer was more triggered by cowardice than gunfire as behind her all she could hear were it's loud heavy steps picking up pace behind her.

"Shit, SHIT, SHIT!"

As she reached the door, she heard static and quick click, followed by the frenzied female voice of the courageous redhead above.

"Rebecca get ready here we come!"

And just as she burst through the door, she was showered with broken glass and soon after the tumbling body of a woman. It would seem that Claire charged forward and leaped through the second story window, and judging by how quickly she made it back onto her feet, she had done it before. Standing and aiming upward, she was pointing her flashlight at the other two who were supposed to have joined her. However, Jason simply backed away, shaking his head in fear as he and Lilian soon disappeared back into the dorms.

Rebecca and Claire stood before the door armed only with pistols against a large unknown enemy charging its way for it, yet even so, Rebecca found a small smile spread across her face as she raised her pistol toward the door. She even managed to chuckle a little, before looking back toward Claire.

"This feeling familiar to you too?"

"Hell yeah, except this time around I've got a partner."

"This time around, mine actually talks to me."

"Really now?"

Rebecca winks.

"You ready?"

Ammo was checked.

"Let's do it!"

Breaths were taken.

". …. you."

Rebecca whispered.

"What?"

Boom! It came crashing through.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ Heyo~ Just leaving this to say that.. well. This chapter was a bit rough to write for me. A lot has gone on since I started this and I ended up almost losing everything I had. Well, if you made it this far though, and am seeing this note, the I thank you for giving me this much of a chance. I'm a fair ways into the next chapter already and this one was really just a late upload, so look forward to that soon, and reviews will always be welcomed so don't be afraid to leave one behind. Constructive criticism is a writers best friend after all. Well, I've wasted enough of your time with this as is, so I'll be off. See ya soon~ *Warps away*


	4. Chapter 4

**_There is still evil in this place.._**

The metal door came flying off of its hinges, propelled forward at the two with great speed. Rebecca dodged to the right, Claire the left, each quickly taking a defensive stance and aiming their sights for the beast that had emerged. The area around the door frame was form and forced apart to fit it's massive size, the monster having to have stood, at the least, 12 feet tall.

It's feet were large slumps of undefined flesh, barely taking shape enough to fit the two toes that housed emerging claw like nails on both. Though It's legs were built tough, packed full of muscle to support its massive weight, they somehow were similar to the shape of a wolf's, explaining it's sudden burst of speed. Comparably, it's arms were on par with its legs, but weren't as large, having a different function and purpose. They in turn housed deformed and yet to shape hands of 2 fingers and a thumb that all held claw like nails in the same fashion as their counterparts. It's body was built like an armored tank. Hardened skin covering both arms with extended width, seeming to be able to for some sort of shield over its face and central body, yet even so, it's abdomen was bulged into a rough muscular build with more of the hardened skin only covering it's sides and pectorals. There didn't seem to be a neck of any kind, more like it's head just burst from within his collarbone and struggled to hold any structure.

The head was tall and in the shape of an obtuse cone, the point starting at the top of it's head and expanding down into it's shoulders. On that cylindrical structure, at the tip was an expandable opening, assumed to be it's mouth, and toward the center were two slits that seemed to have been it's eyes, or more likely it's eyes cased in yet another thick shelling of skin. Somehow, Rebecca could feel those eyes, on her, and it was well beyond unsettling and caused a small chill to surf down her spine.

 _This is ridiculously bad, but I don't exactly hate it._

"Come and get me asshole! You're no giant scorpion or bat so you're no problem to me!"

Cried out Rebecca.

"Let's go ugly, Steve could put up a hell of a lot more fight than you!"

Hollered Claire, though, neither woman expect the other to do so just as they had, so their plans for distraction went up in smoke. Even still, the two found themselves laughing a bit at their now worsened situation. Gunfire couldn't work on the thing, and that was all they had. So, what else to do? Split up and whoever was to be followed would try to lead it away. Priority number one, rescue the survivors and avoid combat at all cost, time to start avoiding.

Hopefully with the main problem distracted, the others would be able to secure Marcus in time, but hopes were a bit far-fetched at the moment. Sprinting off as fast as she could, Rebecca could hear the beast howl. Soon after, were the footsteps, loud, quick, and getting closer. Rebecca found herself as the decoy after all, but was that something to be proud of, or terrified.

She looped around the corner of the dormitory, into an alley between it and another of the learning centers on the campus. It was dark and planted tree's from a charity event filled the overhead with a thick green brush. She pushed as hard as she could with the beast in quick pursuit. It was eagerly charging after her for it's next meal. She found herself ducking every so often, avoiding the occasional claw swipe. The monster was furious. Once again was she fleeing from it, and furthermore, it couldn't seem to get a hold of her either. It's cries began to grow more feral and filled with rage. She didn't know how much longer she would last. And just then..

Slam!

She went down. She was running with all she had, so much so that she didn't give herself a chance to dodge the body that lied on the ground before her. She tumbled, rolled, and found herself reach downward staircase heading toward the basement door. She managed to grab ahold of the railing above the staircase, effectively regaining control of herself. Escaping with only a few minor scrapes and bruises, she was lucky, though, not for long. In one quick swing, it's claw pierced the metal bars of the rail sending her crashing to the bottom, making a thud when her head made contact with the door.

"Shit! Owww.."

She groaned for the one breath that she had before it was taken away by the sudden impact dealt to her chest. _It's.. Over, isn't it?_ The beast had dashed for her, ramming it's large shield like arm plate powerfully against her small, feminine chest. The door behind her cracked, caved in, and then split in two, sending the petite woman flying into the spaciously wide basement. Housing nothing but a pipe network hidden in the left hand corner of the room and a set of cleaning supplies, Rebecca was somewhat fortunate that there was nothing for her to have crashed into.

She found herself sprawled out across the floor painfully forcing a hand to her chest. The pain felt unbearable and each breath seemed impossible. Her chest however was not the only affected area. Her back that had been forced through the door itself and slammed onto the concrete floor of the basement was dealing with it's own spasms of pain. She would have been lucky if none of her vertebrae found themselves cracked or dislodged. Lastly on her own personal pain tour, was her head, which still found itself spinning in confusion, throbbing, and unwilling to cooperate with her body on anything but the movement of her arm. With the world twisting around her and the ringing in her ears, the only thing she could be certain of was that by no means was this over.

It took a bit for her to establish movement of her body, it first attempting to answer if any of her ribs were cracked, yes, but only one, and if that one had penetrated anything vital to her survival. She barely managed to roll onto her stomach and aching chest, an action she almost immediately regretted, and in a feeble attempt to escape, began to crawl toward the upward staircase at the far end of the room. Roughly 5 meters away, would that number really be what her life depended on? To make matters worse, the beast behind her, though now partial trapped within the door frame, was not going to stay there long. It had already begun to tear away at concrete, smashing small chunks and pieces in the aim of breaking a hole large enough to continue the chase.

3 meters left, and it had already forced it's shoulders through, all that was left were it's hips and thighs. She was close, the throbbing in her chest had begun to slow, but was that because of adrenaline or simply her body giving up. It was amazing enough that she could still continue, and the only likely cause was by sheer willpower and determination, but another question was what she was so determined for.

Her life had been in danger many times prior, but what was different now? She had never fought this hard, not through a hopeless situation. Even within the mansion, the train, the training facility, she always gave it her all but knew when enough was enough and when to turn tail. She had become a master now ammo conservation, monitoring her vitals on a moment's notice, routing enemies in the fastest and most efficient ways. Hopelessness was something she grew used to, something she accepted, but never enough to push where a push was useless. There had to have been only one reason for her actions..

1 meter away now, and her state of shock had now begun to wither. The simplest of movements felt monumental with the ever increasing strain on her body becoming more and more apparent. She was able to sluggishly get up onto her feet, and with the help of the hand railing she had found herself resting upon, she soon was able to count her steps upward.

1 step, she reached for her radio. 2 steps, she hit the button. 3 steps, she attempted to speak.

"..base.. ment.."

And step 4, she fell. She collapsed onto the stairs, so far from the doorway to safety. She felt the pulsing start to return slowly within her chest. Furiously, she began to remove her vest, an extremely poor decision on the front lines, but if she were going to die either way, the least she could do was breath. Finally tossing it aside it went crashing on the ground at the bottom of the stairs, and as it landed, another much greater crash invaded the room, bringing with it an unwelcomed guest.

Taking in a deep breath, she found herself wasting it on a slight chuckle. _You really fucked up huh? Just had to end up in the basement_. Her waste of breath laughter caused her to gasp, choking on the air almost immediately after receiving it, evident in the small fit of coughing to follow. Once she managed to calm herself a bit, she looked at the palm of her hand, or rather, her glove. Her tan fingerless gloves found itself stained, lightly, with a small smudge of blood. _Great_. Rebecca looked forward to see her pursuer drawing near. She had stopped running, thus, it had calmed it's rage and took its time. Returning to it's slow, almost non existent footsteps, Rebecca found herself feeling a bit impatient, but more so annoyed.

Her death she could accept, but this just seemed unnecessary. The slow wait felt like watching an hourglass countdown. To make matters worse, if she attempted to move again, it would hasten to end her life. It would be suicide, which brought up the question of, was she really ready to end it all like this? It seemed that that question was one she could have pondered for, say, the next 3 minutes, but that all changed once she heard the sudden click of the door above her. Someone had creaked it open, just enough to peek a curious eye through the side. With all of the lights off, the eye was all she could make out, but that was enough. The monster before her could barely get through the door frame, how would it fare with a narrow stairwell? Taking another breath, lifting her vest toward her with her leg, and turning over slowly, she grew a smirk. _Not over yet huh?_

She quickly kicked herself up onto her feet, another sudden gasp hitting her and immediately being expelled in another fit of coughing as she sluggishly charging her way up the stairs toward the door. Once again, anger grew within the monster, it snarled, growled, and quickly found itself rushing after her. It thrusted it's claw into the stairwell in an attempt to reach her before she managed to go too far but it's attempt failed. Thrashing it's shoulders against the entrance, it started to slide it's shoulder inside, but not enough for it have made any difference. Rebecca huffed and groaned as the tightness in her chest worsened. Reaching the door, found herself thrusting it open and diving inside having another spasm of pain, this one paired with a fit of gasps and coughs, upon the floor. She couldn't catch her breath, she couldn't move anymore than her body instinctively allowed in attempt to suppress the pain, and above all else she couldn't even identify the figure that slammed the door behind her.

Whoever it was, wasted no time lifting her up off of the ground and onto her feet, tossing her arm over their shoulder. Rebecca couldn't gather anything from her situation. She couldn't make out how far the were travelling, had traveled, where she was, which way was up, which was down, or even if her body was still in one piece. She couldn't hear the sound of their voice, but could feel they were shouting. She stopped caring about any of it, anything happening around her after a while. At the least, she had made the B.O.W. have to work for it's kill and that was enough.

 _Looks like you'll be joining us soon, won't you Rebecca? Hope your "special one" won't miss you too much._

 _She looks so tired, really, maybe she should just give up. It's so much easier that way, besides, she did give up on us._

 _Okay okay guys, I think she gets the memo. Just remember Rebecca, that we'll always be here, even if you don't want us to be._

The spinning began to slow, as did the beating of her heart. Her body grew limp and weak, and she found her eyes closing themselves. She had begun to lose consciousness, but the real question was if she would return, or more so, was she willing?

Her body grew heavy, stiff, and still. Breathing was faint, and any of her previous painful movements faded from existence and became nothing. The girl was not gone, not yet at least, but she surely was not there. Drifting into what felt like a deep sleep, Rebecca found herself standing before a wall of pitch black darkness with nothing but the sounds of her failure surrounding her.

 _You're nothing Rebecca but a traitor._

 _How could you do this to us?_

 _I'll never see my daughter again and it's all because of you!_

Before she knew it, she had curled herself up into the fetal position, tears staining her cheeks as the voices only seemed to grow louder and angrier. What she had done WAS unforgivable, but to suffer in such a way was far beyond her comprehension at the time. She knew what would come next, she knew where her mind was leading her, but, she refused to allow it to happen. So long as she had her one "special" person, she refused to give in to the torture of her own guilt.

It was this stubborn friction in her mind that drove the girl to places she never could have imagined. Her mental state was something only she could hope to understand, and unfortunately it would seem that it would stay that way. Was she crazy? Maybe, but there's always a reason behind the madness.

She found herself rising to her feet, an action she thought impossible seconds ago, and balling up her fist. With a fierce stomp, she let out a cry of anger, hollering as loud as she could.

"You're not here! You're all dead and that's how it's going to stay!"

And with that fierce cry, the wall before her shattered, revealing a face that stared at her with extreme concern. Her eyes were open now, and she was lying on the bed of one of the dorms, her head in the lap of a more than welcomed comrade. The world hadn't yet soaked in yet, but it was slowly beginning too. She was starting to understand that she had survived, but not entirely. There was still doubt that she was in nothing more but an elaborate dream, that is, until woman holding her spoke.

"You finally back Becca?"

With a soft groan, a slow inhale, and the notice of wetness upon her lips, she attempted to respond. Her voice raspy and quiet, her words coming out like sandpaper, Rebecca softly whispered,

"All thanks to you, Claire.."

A weak smile managed to surface upon her lips, not much of one, but enough to be noticed. She was alive, there was no way her mind would have allowed such a moment of relief upon her poor soul. She had somehow, once again, survived.

 _ **Author's note:**_ Hey I just want to take a moment to mention that the next chapter will be a bit short. I decided that every 5th chapter will be to give my brain a break and to let some special information soak in. These will be mostly informational and (though I highly advice you don't) I guess are skippable if you don't care much for them. I say give the first one a shot, might just be your favorite part about my story, just don't expect much story or action from them. Ah! And lastly, I want to thank **_IntelligentFish_** for the review! I'll always recognize and respond back to reviews on the story so feel free to ask questions, make comments and such. I would love to have discussions with you guys. Well I guess I've babbled long enough huh? Sorry guys, but I'm gone. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you next time. *warps away*


	5. Chapter 5

**_February 17th, 2002_**

"Matthews, which entrance are we working with?"

"North, double doors, but we'll have to branch off. Rebecca, you and Carter are going in from the third floor. We're going to force our way in from both sides and leave em' no room to escape."

"We got this. Just another day on the job after all."

Rebecca tightened the straps of her tan colored backpack, loaded her shotgun, and tied her hair back into a small, low hanging ponytail. Letting her hair grow out was just one of the ways she tried to distinguish herself to from the former version that drastically depended on others in dangerous situations. Offering a thumbs up to mark her complete preparations, the rest of the team followed the example, and soon after, their chopper began to descend.

The location for this operation, the Safe Heaven Antiviral Institution. As a product of the incident in Raccoon City, the institution was created as a means of security for the people and a light of hope to reinstate order among the masses. With faith blindly entrusted to the S.H.A.I. the people had something keeping them grounded from fear and a sense of security. By no means was the institution a fake or a false lead. Those of the staff worked hard, but, by no means was it the absolute savior the people had believed it to be.

The situation so far, armed gunmen of some unknown group have stormed the building and seized the second floor research department. Large in numbers, it was obvious they came to deal serious damage, but to what motive? The group, as could be gathered by the situation, appear to be aiming to take down the facility, but even that is a wild guess. There have been no demands, no negotiations of any kind, and from what can be gathered, there haven't been any deaths besides the guards, but, there has been one occurrence that warranted the B.S.A.A.'s involvement. There was the appearance of a biogenetic monster on the site that entered with the group. _Since when can you tame a monster?_

Rebecca and Carter, upon reaching the large glass window that covered the main hall of the third floor, gave each other a subtle nod before looking up to the chopper their rope harnesses dangled from. The two returned their gazes to the window and kicked their way off. They swung back with as much force as they could muster in their legs, then came crashing back into the window with their shoulders, quickly detaching themselves and tumbling into the hall. It's go time!

 ** _Character notes:_**

 ** _Rebecca Chambers:_** By the time of this story, Rebecca is 23 and quite experienced in the field, but what about when not on deployment? When no assignment has been passed her way, Rebecca can be found helping out in local animal shelters, donating to homeless shelters, and participating in various other volunteer activities. At the end of the day she likes to document everything into her journal, not a diary, a JOURNAL. She's very serious about that.

 ** _Jason fleck:_** The "leader" of the team and all around straight forward guy. At 23 years of age, he can found most days mingling with the others of his team and romanticising the life of an agent. In his alone time though, he can be found reading self help books and Captain America comics to help boost his confidence and ego.

 ** _Lilian Cross:_** Lilian was the quiet, self-sufficient type, so it would be no surprise that in her free time she didn't plan to spend much time with the others, however that changes if Jason is around. Otherwise, she can found in her room experimenting with various hair dyes and styles, her current being pulled bangs to either side of her face and purple tips upon her mid back length hair. At 22 years of age, she found that it frustrating enough trying to fit in while being Asian, so this was her way of purposely standing out.

 ** _Claire Redfield:_** Being largely invested in TerraSave, Claire doesn't see herself with much time for pleasures, but even so, with what little time she can find, she spends it checking on the status of a young girl by the name of Sherry, who is as of current still administered in a medical research facility. She also enjoys riding and working on her beloved motorcycle, Burnside, named after a friend.

 ** _And lastly.. A few words of thanks!_**

 ** _Claire:_** Glad to see you all enjoying Becca's story. I tell ya, the author's really been putting their all into making this the best they can and it really means a lot that you guys are giving it a fair shot. Hopefully you'll do the same for mine? Heh, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

 ** _Jason:_** Thankw a lot for tuning in to the "Jason and Co. Outbreak fi-

Lilian furiously shoved Jason from the spotlight.

 ** _Lilian:_** Dont listen to him. Congrats, you've made it this far and shown Some interest in little miss Raccoon's tale. Hope that's something your proud of.

 _ **Rebecca:**_ Umm, well that was something. Oh! Right! I'm so happy you've come this far. It may not seem like much, but this story really means a lot to Yoka and as a part of something that's been in the works for 5 years, I'm proud to say-

Just as she was finishing up her small, note card written speech, Rebecca found herself interrupted by one final cast member.

 ** _B.O.W.:_** GRAAAHHHH!

And shortly after, everyone found themselves stumbling over each other in a rushed attempt to leave the room.

 ** _Rebecca:_** S-see ya on the **_17th!_** Uuwaaaa!


	6. Chapter 6

**_You are not alone.._**

Rebecca took a moment to look around the room. Illuminated by the moonlight, she could clearly see the room was a mess. Doors left open and empty of their contents, the closet ransacked, and the bookcase void of anything but the.. Young boy who sat atop it? She tilted her head, or more like she attempted to, before realizing who the boy must have been. Marcus, which meant the mission was a success but, the only loose end if that was the case was to find the remaining members.

Rebecca thought to quickly reach for her radio, but the action seemed to be too much for her, the sudden jerk of her arm alone proving to be more than enough to cause her face to scrunch up as she winced in pain. She then felt a palm upon her forehead slowly force her back down. Claire didn't need to say a single word, because the disapproving puff of her cheeks was more than enough for Rebecca to take the hint. Rebecca enjoyed how childish Claire could get when it was just the two of them, it was no wonder Claire was so good with kids, she was like one herself.

"Where are they?"

Rebecca's voice was still attempting to find itself, but it was getting close, slowly beginning to return.

"Your team? They all met up on this floor, but then Jason said something about " _style points_ "? So now they're off clearing out the rest of the dead within the dorms."

 _That was Jason alright. Quick to fire and first to act. In some cases it's good but, not now._

Rebecca tried once again to change her position and attempted to sit upright. Swishing upward, her forehead met the soft, yet unmovable palm of the once again puffy-cheeked Claire. She seemed set on keeping Rebecca still, but, even so, she too realized they couldn't rest forever.

"You're really something you know that? Not many people would be so ready and willing to stand up after something like that. So, what's got you so excited?"

It took Rebecca a moment to answer. Now weather that was her lungs taking time to decide if the air was worth her words or simply her deciding on the words themselves was anyone's guess, ever her own.

"Well I can't be a weak little girl forever can I..? Now let's get Marcus out of here."

With a soft sigh, Claire eased away her palm and Rebecca continued pursuing her new position. She found herself reaching for the right side of her upper abdomen. She was sure that under her vest- her vest, she wasn't wearing one. All that she could feel beneath her palm was the thin cotton of her olive green shirt, though, beneath that was a slight unnatural bulge that was nearly larger than said palm. Unfortunately Rebecca's next realization was the intense amount of pain that shot through her soon after. Instinctively she attempted to cry out but her lungs once again found themselves in a bit of a selfish situation, and upon opening her mouth she only subjected herself to another coughing fit. Slapping her free hand to her mouth, she only managed to worsen the ordeal and cause herself further harm.

This time, her coughing was much rougher, and she found herself momentarily blinded by the large amounts of water protruding from her eyes. Once her coughing began to calm, she found herself feeling exhausted, weak, and almost paralyzed by the numbing feeling quaking through her. She once again found blood upon her hand, but now in a more noticeable drop. She somehow found herself unalarmed by the growing amount, but more than anything, alerted by the expression on the face of the woman beside her.

Claire looked as if she was about to leap out of her skin, flinching harder than Rebecca at the sudden coughing. She had reared back with her eyes wide and the hair on her skin at full attention. Rebecca sighed and reached over to Claire. Grasping her shoulder, she attempted to pull her back. However, Claire didn't agree with her decision and brushed her hand away, after all, Rebecca was too weak at the moment to fight back either way. Taking a grasp of Rebecca's wrist though, Claire found herself staring intensely at the blood staining her glove.

"To think it did so much to you.."

Rebecca blushed softly and quickly turned away.

"C-claire I'm fi-"

"And you're still, trying to-"

 _Thump_.

There was a sound at the door that immediately gathered everyone's attention, especially Marcus's. Shifting quickly to the closet, he quietly shut the sliding door, being sure not to make any noise at all. Claire suddenly yanked Rebecca toward her, swatting her head onto her chest as she grabbed her firearm and joined her arms around Rebecca and meeting her hands upon the pistol.

"Knock knock. Iiiiiiiiit's Jaso-"

She fired two shots into the lower left hand corner of the door.

"W-woah what the hell!?"

Jason flung the door open as quickly as he could, ready to charge, until he heard the click of her gun and noticed her sights were aimed right between his eyes.

"N-now hold on here, wait just a minute. I'm fine, it's me, no reason to sho-"

"All the more reason to shoot. You and your little friend are the reason for this!"

She nodded her head toward the wounded woman upon her breast. What happened here was well beyond an "oops" or an "I'm sorry". Rebecca nearly lost her life due to the inexperience and utter idiocy of the group she had been joined with. Rebecca noticed Claire grip on the gun, it was constantly getting tighter, and her trigger finger finding it harder and harder to maintain it's position and beginning to press. Though weak, Rebecca was able to lift her hand to Claire's wrist and apply a small amount of pressure, enough for Claire to realize what she was doing and slowly lower her weapon. Claire's head dropped, and her shoulders began to shutter. Her eyes, though shut, had now begun to leak water and before she knew it, she was crying.

"And to top it off, I was no better in the situation.."

Rebecca looked to Claire, concern and angry slowly boiling up in her body. Before she knew it she had managed to climb onto her feet and ball her fist. Jason stepped back a bit, revealing three sets of peering eyes looking into the room. The team had arrived with Jason, and it would seem, that they were also about to accept judgment with him as well. That is, until the sound of small, though not much smaller than Rebecca's, _Hey_!, footsteps barged in-between the two.

The boy, Marcus, had heard enough and was putting his foot down.

"No more fighting! Know why these things happen? Because the dead don't fight they just eat! We must work together!"

Jason and Co. Found themselves all stumped for words, the room quickly filling with silence. For moments to pass, there wasn't even a single movement, that is, until Rebecca's palm founds itself smacking onto the top of the boy's head. She gently pushed herself off of him and forward once again, now standing before Jason. Looking into his eyes, she found her anger slowly subsiding, but another found theirs growing. With a soft sigh, Rebecca's head dropped.

 _Smack_!

Even so, her hand still found itself flying across his face. Jason didn't know what was more surprising, the fact that she could do it, and with such speed and power, or the sudden sting of pain that was pulsating through his face. Rebecca couldn't last long after a move like that, but she didn't care and it didn't mean that she wouldn't still have done it. He deserved it and a hell of a lot more, but she would settle for this much for now. Suddenly clenching her fist, she fought against the oncoming storm about to release itself from within her lungs and out of her esophagus, but it was a losing battle, however, even in one such as this, she still went beyond her own limits and let her words emerge before it was too late. With her thumb thrusted into her chest, she shouted,

"Until you've been hurt in the field you don't get to act tough, Got that?!"

Finally out of time and breath, she found herself collapsing onto the floor with the horrified cry of Claire following not too far behind. She wasn't unconscious, and she wasn't going to allow herself to be, she was just exhausted. Claire rushed over to Rebecca and quickly rolled her onto her back. If anything, the least she needed was to be able to breath, and with the current condition of her chest that wouldn't be possible if we're left as she were. Rebecca's fit had begun and before she knew it, she had found herself gasping for air in between every other cough. Claire, in a bit of a small panic had opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sounds of everyone's radios.

"Extraction team, come in. Respond you Rookies!"

Sutherlin, and he didn't seem too happy. Taking the task of a response, Jason answered his call.

"Yes General, what is it?"

"Where the hell are you? You're wasting too much time. We've got a situation on our hands, one that much too dangerous for you all to be knee-deep in."

"We're just in the dormitories Sir. We had to locate one last civilian but now we are ready for extraction."

"Then get your asses to the roof of the Central Research Center pronto. It's already been established as an evac and supply drop location. You don't have much time, there have been a few muta-.. And I'm not le-.. Monsters anymore. Now get movi-..!"

The radio's died into static, and despite all of Jason's attempts to restore it, the signal was lost. The team was left to ponder what the message was on their own, but not for too long, as it seemed someone grew too impatient.

"Understood. Mutations on the field,"

A sudden, hard cough.

"We need to avoid combat and,"

A small gasp and weeze.

"Get to the evac ASAP. Let's go team.."

Despite Claire's frenzied attempts to keep her down, Rebecca found herself on her feet once again. Her coughing had slowed midway through the instruction, but hadn't quite ended yet, however that wasn't going to stop her. She started to push her way through the small crowd at the door, none of them willing to stop her, believing now more than ever that she was infected.

Even without her vest, she was still going to complete her mission, no matter what, she wouldn't be " _weak_ " ever again. It would seem though, that someone else didn't share her same definition of weak. Charging after her, Claire threw her arms over Rebecca's shoulders in a sudden embrace that, regrettably, knocked what little wind she had, out of her. Squeezing her from behind, she tried to regain her mental composure before speaking her mind.

"Becca stop! You don't have to do this, you don't have to go this far. You've done more than enough. You need to-"

"No Claire I'm fine. I can do.. This. I have to."

"And if you can't?! What are you just going to die trying?"

"I'll have gone out doing all that I could."

"Rebecca!"

"Dammit I can do this Carter!"

Rebecca paused for a moment. What she just said, why? Why did she say? Claire may have been holding her back but not nearly as much as.. Her team. Her real team. Shaking her head, Rebecca took advantage of the confusion caused by her outburst and freed herself from Claire's arms.

"I can still fight.."

Drawing her pistol from its holster, Rebecca grasped firmly and sighed softly. Correcting her posture a bit and lowering her brows, she refused to let this hold her back. With a fierce look of determination, she turned back to Claire and offered her a thumbs up paired with a nod of her head.

"Now let's go. We're in a hurry aren't we?"

 _ **Author's Note:**_ S-sorry about the late update.. I had a long hard day at work yesterday it couldn't find time to put the chapter up. As always thanks for reading and, well, I wanna hear from those of you who are. How do you like the story? Comments are always open and I'm more than welcome to reply to them. Well, hope to hear from you soon. *warps away*


	7. Chapter 7

**_Fear can't kill you, but…_**

Back onto what used to be the first floor, the group were quickly making way for the door. Claire stubbornly took point, claiming that she would not let Rebecca fall under harm again and to solidify this as fact, she had taken Rebecca's hand in her own and refused to let go. In an attempt to play the situation down a bit, Rebecca in turn took Marcus's hand as well, forming a bit of a safety chain. Jason and the others followed behind, but not without Lilian attempting to employ Claire's strategy upon jason and failing. Oddly enough, Billy also attempted such with Anthony, and he too, was met with failure.

Once reaching the now gaping hole that once was the doorframe, the group found that the open, spacious, courtyard had now become a dangerous enemy itself. Echo's of noise were coming from all over, some battling agents, others pursuing monsters, but none with a definite point of origin. The first glimpse of another being was the gruesome sight of a man toppling onto his back from behind one of the facilities. Immediately after falling into view of Rebecca and unfortunately Marcus, the man was quickly dispatched of by a spear like tongue pierced through his chest. Without revealing itself, the beast made quick work of reeling him in. All of this only within a matter of seconds of the group exiting, and without a single pause as they all continued their sprint for the CRC.

Located to the right of the Dormitories, they only had a 30 meter sprint to traverse before they could work their way up, that is, assuming there were no hurdles lying in wait on the inside. Rebecca found herself staggering every so often that she was surprised she didn't fall onto her face midway through, granted, she would have done everything in her power to prevent such an outcome. She could feel each step reverberate through her lower back, something that was far beyond abnormal, and she couldn't seem to pace herself at all as each of her breaths came in different sizes and intervals, but she was starting to get a handle on it, well, enough to keep moving forward that is.

Claire and her chain made it to the door first, not wasting a single moment, yanking the dark colored glass door open and nearly leaping inside. With the goal of medical evac at top priority, Claire was far too focused for anything else. To follow were, or should have been, Jason and Co, but it seemed that they found themselves caught up in something else. Something big. It would seem that their sprint for the door was seen as an act of cowardice, and as such, the return of their former foe couldn't be helped.

As if appearing out of thin air, the large monstrosity was suddenly seen charging after its prey. Jason didn't seem to have learned his lesson from before and turned to prepare his rifle believing that it was the monster that had not learned, but Lilian definitely did, and for the safety of them all, she yanked him forward.

It would seem that Lilian was the quickest thinker of the group as she was the first to react and aim for the door. In mid sprint, there was no time for pulling when a monster like this one pursued. Firing off two shots, one in the upper right corner and one in the lower left, she maintained full speed and thrusted her rifle In Front of her as she rammed into the glass. She was able to force her way through, leaving the shattered remains of the door behind her as well as the remainder of her team. They took notice though, and made their way through the newly opened entrance seconds behind her.

The last to attempt an entry was the beast in pursuit. It rammed Its shield like arm into the doorframe, but it didn't immediately budge. It caused a huge dent right in the center of it, but that wasn't enough. It continued to ram its body until it found its way in. Immediately startled by the impact, the group found themselves each individually struggling to maintain their momentum and balance, especially Rebecca, as they pushed for the large open staircase ahead. Rebecca realized at that moment that things were going to get complicated, that is, until Jason did something sudden.

He had managed to gather himself much sooner than the others, and as such, found his way to the front of the line, swooping Rebecca up off of her feet. Even with the cold glare being shot at the back of his neck by Lilian, he pressed his way up to the second floor landing and without realizing it, kicked open the first door in sight and charged in. The room he had found himself in was the library, and at the far end of it was another door, a door he intended on forcing through as well. Rebecca yelped as her foot made contact with the leftover candles from an extracurricular research groups "quiet study time". Two found their way on the floor where they caught a stray pile of books, and another crashing into a large banner of the school's mascot. Quick, small, fires started to spread as the two pushed forward, but their drive was quickly put to a halt by the slamming of the door behind them and the sudden fling of yet another spear like tongue by Jason's head.

Without a moment's notice, Rebecca had ended up on the floor, rolling to a halt as Jason, much less gracefully, tumbled face first into a support beam. The two, after regaining their wits and their breath, scanned the room for their attacker. The library was huge, two stories tall at that and housed a second landing with a small staircase to it near the far off door. That second floor however, was beginning to catch fire quickly, the banner spreading to the banister and the bookcase nearby it. Their assailant didn't seem too keen on hiding in the ever decreasing shadows. Instead, it burst out into the open, getting itself as far from the fire as possible before considering its attack.

Their opponent was the well known mutation of the t-virus, the licker. A raw, pink, skin less body, hands and feet armed with sharp claws, an exposed fleshy canopy over its head and what used to be it's eyes, and its most defining feature, its bullet speed and 3 meter long tongue, made for piercing through flesh killing its prey in one go. Though a more common foe, this one was still an enemy worth noting and not to be taken lightly. Perched along the wall just above the door, its saliva left a nice large stain upon the carpet of the library floor. It seemed to have been ready for its next bite.

This time Rebecca was the first to act, firing off three shots in rapid succession. Each shot made contact with its body, two in its abdomen and one in its shoulder, causing the creature to cry out and release the wall. Once it reached the ground, Rebecca took her chance to finish it off and, barely, ran over and opened fire, releasing 4 shots this time, all within its face and chin. In a final attempt at a retaliation attack, the Licker tried to take her with it, thrusting it's tongue at her. Attempting to dodge Rebecca allowed herself fall back, a move that ultimately saved her life, but didn't leave her unscathed.

It's tongue slashed her collarbone, just beyond her shoulder. It was only a cut, but it was indeed a deep one with enough power to cause her to spin to the ground. Even further wounded, Rebecca found her frustrations reaching an all time high. It was becoming harder and harder to pull through and it seemed that the world refused to give her a break. The only thing that could have made things worse was if-

 ** _Crash!_**

...the beast came crashing into the room. Thrashing its way through the wall this time instead of the door, _guess it realized how much they hate it_ , it broke through one of the support beams and flung chunks of it and the wall all over the room. It's violent thrashing caused the fire to only spread worse, launching flaming debris into further flaming portions of the room. And to top it all off, there was no sign of the others.

"No.. Not like this dammit!"

Rebecca couldn't give up yet, but it seemed as if she had no choice, but even now, even in the end, she found herself asking the question, Where the hell did everyone else g-

 ** _Boom!_**

Before she could even complete her thought, yet again she was interrupted, but this time, by the angry crash of Anthony's foot upon the far off door. It would seem that they all went around, everyone, but Claire and Marcus? She wasn't with them. However that didn't matter nearly as much, the door was open and it was time to go. The only problem with that, was the debris that Rebecca found her foot entrapped in. She looked around to find that Jason had already begun to take off, somehow recovering after the danger had passed and rescue had arrived, how heroic, which now left Rebecca on her own, in an impossible situation, in an impossible condition, with all odds against her.

 _Rebecca, just give up. A little girl like you couldn't have done all this alone anyway. Just wear your head high and be proud that you made it this far, "Officer Chambers"._

"C-Coen..?"

 _Now's not the time for names, what is important, is your choice. This can all be over and no one would blame you, or you could just drag this out and make everyone feel sorry for you. What's it gonna be?_

It was at that moment that the world completely stopped around her. This wasn't something trivial, it was a question upon how she wanted to spend or end her life. Till up to the end of Raccoon city she found herself motivation to be the protection of the place she called home, and with that gone, it became another motive, live to see her again. The her she was speaking of being Claire Redfield. No matter how often they saw one another, spoke, or anything of the likes, the goal would still remain the same, but when neither choice gave the desired result, what were she to do?

 _Claire.. Where are you? Are you alright? No.. Of course you are, you're a Redfield after all. I wish you were here now, at least then it would have made all of this so much easier. Or would it have? You told me to stop and yet, if I do, it's all over. I wonder, which would have pissed you off more, what I'm about to do, or what I want to do. I really have been considering it, but the easy way just isn't my way. Thank you, Chris, Billy, Claire, Carter, and.. Surprisingly, You too Jason. You made this ending possible after all. Now then, for the last time, I'll give it all I've got. Goodbye everyone.._

And with her final thoughts fresh in her mind, Rebecca charged, was abandoned and left alone at the door with the monster charging for her, but was this truly to be the end of her story? That question was answered by her next move.

With the beast nearly within its arms reach, she, in a last second decision, leaped to the side with hers arms stretched out toward the stairs. Unable to stop it's charge, the beast found itself crashing through the wooden doors with ease, while Rebecca found herself crashing into the stairs and nearly twisting her wrist with nearly the same level of ease.

The flaming embers began to shower from the ceiling, raining fire onto the carpet and onto the back of the near completely broken girl. With the quick singe and burn of the flame, she was quick to try and get herself back onto her feet. She could hear the sounds of gunfire and the roar of the pursuer fading slowly into the distance. The most likely outcome was that they hadn't gone far, in their assumption of safety, and now found themselves back into the chase.

Rebecca could barely move, barely walk, and yet still, she forced herself, to what used to be the doorway, and into the hallway that cornered at the door. Everything was beginning to fade into a blur. She couldn't see, she was barely breathing, but even so, she continued to push. Somehow, she made the impossible possible and survived, but for how much longer?

"So you ARE still alive. Good. Because your role has not yet been fulfilled."

 _What..?_

"Come, I'll help you from here."

In the blur that was once the hallway appeared a figure before her. Rebecca could make out from the voice that it was a woman, but not one she had ever heard before. Whoever it was, lifted Rebecca's arm over their shoulder and aided her down a different direction. It would seem that where she was headed wouldn't have been the best direction to go.

"W-who are you..?"

She attempted to ask the woman.

"My name is Yoko, and I'm here to help."

With her body at its peak with exhaustion, she found her eyes closing periodically, flashing in and out. She couldn't tell the length of time as it passed anymore, or if it had at all. From the hall, she opened to find herself in a bed on a helicopter, and after that, she was hospitalized.

 ** _Author's note:_** Well guys I'm back for another little chat! Before we start things off I want to say thanks to **_LadyWolverine_** for the review. I feel the same way really about Rebecca not getting enough spotlight, and it leads me to another thought about her. Up to this point, I've realized that my attitude towards and my intentions for this story have completely changed since me uploading the first chapter, and I don't necessarily think that that's a bad thing. The fun little read that I started at the beginning of December, to me at least, has blossomed into something much more serious, and I'm happy about that. Now, even though that may be the case for that matter, I'm not entirely happy with what I've done to Rebecca, and by that I mean… Well look at where she's ended up. As my favorite character of the series, I never thought it would turn out as it has, and that may sound weird coming from the one who wrote it, but, in my writings, I let the situations play themselves out and once they've reached their conclusion I revise it and let it loose for the world to see. I surprise myself more often than not when these chapters are done. Well, enough of my ramblings. Tell me what you guys think though, I'd really love to know how you guys feel on the more recent chapters. Ah, see ya soon. *warps away*


	8. Chapter 8

_**We must survive in order to expose this nightmare**_

Quite a bit of time had passed since the incident at the university. After one major surgery, a minor one, and being placed into a surgically induced coma, Rebecca was finally about to have a chance to regain consciousness and take in not only her own situation, but also what lied in the world around her since being attacked.

Opening her eyes, the blurry world soon began to take form and before she knew it she was staring at the ceiling. She was almost afraid to try and move, but, there was something that prompted her, and desperately needed her attention. There was an odd warmth on her arm and an uncomfortable amount of pressure pressing down upon her left wrist.

With a small sigh, she slowly turned her head to the left, and found herself blushing a small bit. Claire had fallen asleep in a chair on the side of her bed, with a corny looking "get well"card in hand. She was tempted to just leave things as they were, to just close her eyes and pretend she saw nothing, but unfortunately, the small amount of pain the pressure had begun to cause was beginning to grow and it would be a bigger bother explaining how she was hurt during her recovery than to simply wake her and avoid it all together.

Lifting her right hand slowly, she felt a slight tug, pulling it back in place. She now, slowly turned her gaze to her right where a slowly waking Asian woman was wiping an eye clear and releasing Rebecca's arm from the soft snuggle she had wrapped it in. Rather than a blush, this, caused Rebecca to jump a bit, jolting in Claire's direction and unintentionally waking her as well. This however was too quick a movement for her and she found her now free left hand pressed upon her chest, head down in a small amount of pain.

The two, both sleepy eyed and barely awake, looked at each other with their pair of barely open eyes. It took a few moments, but after about 6 seconds of Rebecca slowly trying to gather herself, they both reacted. Claire quickly jumped to her feet, as did the Asian woman, and each shouted.

"W-woah who the hell are you and how did you get in here?!"

Questioned the redhead with an outstretched finger, and,

"S-shit, I fell asleep!"

Lamented the Asian woman as she reared back in horrific shock. For a moment she seemed ready to bolt, but, it seemed she quickly realized there would have been no point to it if she had already been discovered. She dropped her head and a hand found its palm over her slightly embarrassed face.

"I'm.. Yoko. I have level 3 clearance and permission to see her.."

Claire found herself In firm objection to the woman's right to be within the room.

"But WHY are you he-"

"So you're the one who helped me then?"

Interjected Rebecca, eager to get to know the woman who saved her life, the second time that is.

"Helped you?"

"Yeah. I would have died back there if she hadn't came and carried me to the roof, or at least, I think she did.. Everything's a little fuzzy, but I definitely remember the name Yoko."

"Well maybe it was someone saying don't tru-"

Claire was swiftly shut down mid sentence by the two's sudden objections.

"It wasn't."

"Absolutely absurd."

Returning back to her previous focus, Rebecca met her eyes with Yoko's, a hint of a serious aura beginning to radiate from her. She had to know, what did Yoko mean when she said her role was not yet fulfilled.

"Yoko, what you said to me that night.. Shit.. How long ago was "that night"..? What is my role?"

Yoko perked up and folded her arms without realizing it.

"Oh, so you do remember that, huh? Well, hmm.. How should I put this.."

One hand found its way beneath her chin as she pondered for a bit.

"You're the catalyst. And it's been nearly a month."

 _A month!?_

Exclaimed Rebecca, causing another small quake of pain.

"What exactly do you me-"

Yoko calmly changed the direction of the conversation, seemingly unphased by any of the things to come out of her mouth. Almost as if it were nothing.

"You'll understand further as this story progresses."

Turning her gaze away and looking toward the television that sat in the far off corner of the room, she sighed.

"Maybe you should check the media. I'm sure the details of the attack are something of interest to you after being "gone" for so long."

She was right. Though Rebecca hadn't yet realized it, but she really was starved for information. Now that she had been reminded of the large gap in knowledge between them, she had to know something.

She looked around the room, her gaze speeding past the rising stem of smoke coming off of the freshly ignited hot head they called Claire, until she discovered the bedside remote and turned on the TV.

"..until the entire campus has been confirmed to be safe once again. The discovery was made rookie agents of the B.S.A.A. and on their first official assignment no less. Here with me is the one who identified and escorted the young boy to safety,"

It was at that moment that Rebecca found her head dropping at the sight of had to have been the biggest smile ever to be broadcasted on national television. Showing every single tooth in his mouth and bringing from ear to ear was..

"Agent Jason Fleck. Now Mr. Fleck, I have to ask, what was it like for you? You know, being in such dramatically dangerous situation?"

The reporter held her microphone close to Jason's mouth.

"Well, for someone like me it was nothing, but I know for my team it was a terrifying ordeal. Not everyone can be as brave as I can,"

Rebecca's palm slapped onto her face as she shook her head in utter disappointment.

"make the same quick decisions,"

Claire threw her fist against he nearest wall, assumably wishing she had shot him when she had the chance.

"and make the same sacrifices,"

And the hand that slapped Rebecca's face quickly become a fist along with its counterpart.

"Except for one. Rebecca, whenever you wake up, I hope you think of this knight in shining armor, Jason "the hero" Fleck!"

And from balled fists she leaped to bright pink cheeks, a low growl, and the sudden slam of said fists upon her bed.

"God damnit Jason! For once can't you be a-"

"Decent human being?"

Yoko predictively stated. And by the way Rebecca's gaze quickly shot toward her, she couldn't have been wrong.

"Well then Mr. Fleck, it was a pleasure speaking with you. Now, back to you Terry with today's wea-"

The screen died once Claire clicked the off button on the remote. It seemed that she had had enough of the news for the day. The two who held the extreme reactions looked to one another, as if about to charge out of the room and straight for Jason, at least, until Yoko interjected with an attempt to diffuse the situation and return the two back to their proper courses.

"Why don't you two just kiss already and stop teasing your audience."

Which Rebecca quickly snapped back,

"A-audience?! Why the hell would you say-"

And Claire then leaped with,

"T-that's what you're worried about?! She just told us to-"

And with a small breath of laughter, the serious tone was officially destroyed as the two once angry yet now embarrassed women drew their attention to the laughing woman on the right side of the room. Yoko had always been on the quieter side in life but sometimes it was healthy to have a little fun.

"Becca, I officially don't like your new friend.."

There was a low growl and a death stare aimed straight at Yoko, a glare that was slowly becoming more and more intensified. However, Yoko was once again completely unphased by either, and instead of replying, she opted to reach for her PDA and jumped slightly. She had apparently received a message of some kind, and judging from how quickly she shifted toward the door, it must have been something important.

"L-look, Rebecca. It's been a nice chat, but there is something I must attend to. I'll return soon but, until then, do NOT speak to a man by the name of Welker. And for your own sake, it might also be best not to peek outside of your window either.

And quickly she sped out of the room, just before Rebecca could finish the question of,

"Wait who's Welker?!"

With a question unanswered and emotions still a bit high, she turned to Claire who was sporting an angry, wide-eyed, smirk with a small twitch in her left brow. She looked about ready to rip Yoko's head off after the stunt she had pulled. Unfortunately Rebecca had to be the one with the task of calming her down, however, with the inability to leave her bed or move much at all for that matter, her only weapon was to be her words. Sighing softly, she took a breath and gave it her best shot.

"C-Claire I know you're about ready to pounce but first let's talk for a moment, I want to know more about what's going on first. Have there been any other developments on the university since I went out?"

Claire's anger didn't necessarily subside, but instead it simply shifted into her rapidly tapping foot, giving her enough control to think, and appropriately respond to what Rebecca had asked.

"TerraSave.."

Rebecca almost didn't catch what she had said due to her volume being near that of a whisper. Even so, what she did hear didn't seem to make much sense either.

"What happened with TerraSav-"

"Rebecca there's a reason Yoko said not to look outside of that window. I can't explain who Welker is or why you shouldn't speak with him because I don't quite know myself, but, what you should know is that.. Shit.. Umm.."

"Out with it Claire!"

Shouted the impatient and cliffhanging patient.

"Dammit we're in holding!"

"W-wait.. What?"

"Becca, my organization is under suspicion of being apart of this tragedy and are being investigated person by person as we speak. You.. Being so close in contact with me, seemed to have brought you within the suspect pool.."

"You can't be serio-"

"I am. Leon's looking into how the investigations going but he doesn't have much pull here and neither does Chris. At the moment we're stuck here with nothing but more allegations stacking up against us, Burnside's been impounded, I haven't heard a thing about Sherry in months, my organization's reputation is getting dragged through the mud, and all I can do is wait! What the hell kind of situation is this?!"

Shifting her weight toward the left side of her bed, the side of the room that had belonged to Claire, Rebecca attempted to, at the same, shift the weight of the heavy emotions within the room toward an alternative.

"Okay so let's say that is what we're dealing with here. It doesn't mean that this is it. You've done, your organization's done, and i've done no wrong here. Soon enough they'll see that and the record will be set straight."

"But how long until that supposed happy ending is to arrive? It's already been a month since the incident and we're still not to be trusted. Not to mention that the longer we wait, the closer our true assailant gets to covering their tracks. We don't have all the time in the time in the world on this one.. I'm sorry but this isn't gonna play out like a fairy tale."

"Who's to say it has to?"

Rebecca reached for Claire's hand and pulled her closer to her.

"What we need to do before anything else, is gather information. Unfortunately it would seem that Yoko is our best bet of doin-"

Rebecca found herself interrupted by the swift opening of her rooms automatic door. She silenced herself, ending her sentence short, worried of who would hear, and for good reason.

In stepped a man with silver hair, despite looking to be in his 20's, and a soft hint of a goatee upon his face. He wore solid white lab coat with white slacks to match and a pair of somehow even whiter shoes. He held a bright, open, friendly smile, and aimed it toward the two women in the room before checking the contrastingly black clipboard he held in his hands.

"Ah, a pleasure to see you awake and lively Miss Chambers. We were worried about you for a while there. My name is Daniel Welker, and I'll be in charge of supervising your recovery."

Rebecca gave a slight nod to Claire, confirming that she too heard the name before offering her response.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you . I'm feeling pretty good today, better than I expected to be anyway."

"Now now let's not get too hasty here. You'll still require a bit of testing before we can truly confirm that, but I am glad to hear it from your own mouth. Now, I do have a bit of questions to ask you, and in order to do such, I'll have to ask your friend to step out for a moment. Miss Redfield, you may return within the hour. I'm sure you're already aware of how things work around here. There is a fresh pot of coffee brewed in the lounge if you will be so patient as to wait there."

Claire rolled her eyes and made her way out of the room, looking back to rebecca from the hall. Her expression quickly shifted to one of concern when they made eye contact with one another, but their only option at the moment was to cooperate. As such, she did as was asked of her and walked off and allowed the door to close behind her.

"Now then, Miss Chambers, I would like you to be able to trust me and be able to tell me any and everything that comes to mind about our recent incident, it would be in both of our best interest after all. I am in no way your enemy or the bad guy or anything of the sort. I am simply a man with questions and you are the one with the answers. I hope that we can be friends through this experience. Ah, but I'm rambling it would seem Sorry about that."

"N-no no you're fine, but umm, what kind of questions would these be?"

"Questions about what you experienced, your thoughts, and the names of all those involved in each occurrence will do just fine. I'll start off by asking for a retelling of events as far as you are aware."

After around a half hour of "chatting" with Welker, Rebecca seemed to have answered all of his questions as honestly as she could, but making sure to leave out any and all details of Yoko in the process. Rebecca was smart, she knew how to bend the truth well enough and avoid leaving obvious inconsistencies. With everything taking the straightforward route, all that remained was the ending of the story, how she escaped the burning library. By her words, she had managed to reach the end of the hall to meet with a lingering Claire and Marcus who from there helped her rejoin the others at the rooftop. Innocently enough, given that she herself didn't exactly know what happened after leaving that room beside Yoko's aid, there could have actually been truth to that statement.

Welker seemed to have been quite pleased with her responses and his interest seemingly grew with each word to follow one another. Another quality of Rebecca's that got her to where she was, was her perceptiveness. One had to have payed close attention to have survived through the atrocities she had been through, and that included both her eyes and ears. Judging his responses, watching his face, shifts in emotion and behavior. She found herself studying him more than he her, as far as she could tell.

 _Clap!_

"Well well, you certainly have been through quite a lot. ..I'm actually wondering how it is you're actually still alive. It's like you've got some sort of main character plot armor or something.. BUT it's amazing that you did. We wouldn't have nearly as much insight as we do now without you."

"Plot armor? Wha-"

"Now unfortunately, it would seem that our time will not last much longer, so as my final regards to you Miss Chambers I feel I must inform you that this is still a very delicate situation. With the ongoing investigation and such, we ask that you not speak of anything said during these talks with those on the outside. I'm sure you understand why so I won't bore you with the deta-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a man in a sharp black suit entered through the automatic door and whispered something into Welker's ear.

"Ah, Sorry but this is where we end our discussion. I hope your recovery is swift and I will see you again, hopefully tomorrow. Take care."

Welker quickly turned and made a swift exit from the room. Rebecca found her head tilting in a bit of confusion, but, allowed his business to leave her mind, shifting her thought more toward what the repercussions of the recent conversation could be. Flopping back onto her pillow, and suffering the sudden, throbbing consequences, She closed her eyes, first as as wince, but leaving them to calm herself. She had a minute or two before Claire made her return, but when she did arrive, she didn't seem to have calmed her nerves one bit.

Still high strung and irritated by their current situation, she wasted not a single moment getting back to business.

"Becca, we can't stay here. We have to figure a way out of this goddamn place."

"Well what do you suppose I do? Turn into a Becca sandwich and slide under a door?"

"What?"

"A story Barry told me. Anyways, there's not much I can actually do in this state."

"Well.. yeah you do need to recuperate. Alright then, let's start by seeing what you actually CAN do. Try getting out of bed."

Turning her head toward the door and opening her eyes once again Rebecca looked to Claire with a small sigh of patience, because without any Claire would be her worst enemy, and nodded. She slowly lifted her upper body from the pillow and rotated herself to lower her legs off of the bed. She then shifted her weight forward and onto her feet as the reached the floor. There was sudden shot of pain to her lower left hip, her hand flying to it in an instant and feeling a bruise. The IV in her left wrist didn't seem to be so affected by the movement, but the rest of her arm did and also throbbed a bit. Her body seemed to have been attempting to spread the stress to lessen the pain she felt, and it unfortunately caused a bit of weakness to spread as well. She officially raised herself, standing somewhat upright and even managed to take a step or two before getting snagged by her tube leading from her wrist. She was able to move, but rather due to being asleep for so long or her injured state was to be tested over time.

"Good. Good, maybe we can work our way out of here."

"Claire, being physically able is one thing but that doesn't mean we can just waltz out of here no problem at all. I'm no spy, have no spy training or the likes."

"And you think I am?"

"Well you did break into that Umbrella facility.."

"I'm not dammit!"

"Still."

"Well maybe I can help with that."

And suddenly Rebecca found herself flopping back onto her bed in and Claire a few steps back from the door as the woman of the hour, Yoko, made her return. This woman would be the death of Rebecca with her sudden appearances. The one question stuck on her mind being, _How the hell does she keep doing that!?_

"D-dammit what the hell are you-"

"Willing to help you. Though, with a stipulation of course."

Rebecca, though still attempting to gather herself and breathe responded to her statement.

"Which.. Is..?"

"You allow yourself one more week, and once we depart, I'll speak the other half."

"Yoko this is starting to sound way too easy."

"Rebecca plot device is not something welcome here. If this weren't possible i wouldn't be proposing it. Honestly how do you think I've been here despite not wanting a certain man to even know of my continued existence?"

"True but-"

"Trust me. If I truly wanted to cause you more harm than good I wouldn't have aided you in the library."

"F-fine.."

"And I'm just supposed to accept this without any issue?"

Spoke out Claire.

"No. You are nearly as important as she in this matter. You were able to survive against "It's" Wrath after all."

"What are you talking about?"

"The large creature still pursuing her. All to have come in contact with it are… look, never mind that for now. I've done enough explanation of plot points for a time."

Yoko sighed and crossed her arms, stepping back and leaning against the wall near the door.

"Let's.. Just cut this chapter a bit short alright? Will you accept my offer or not? I'm sure you've got a lot to do on the outside, and there's nothing any of us can achieve in a place such as this."

"...I'm in."

Rebecca forced out after her lungs managed a fair recovery.

"If she's in then fine, but you better be worth my time and effort."

Now Joined Claire. The three women spent the next 4 hours, speaking upon a plan developed by the mysterious newcomer Yoko, getting to know her better in the process. There was no guarantee to the plan she had placed in motion, but what there was, was enough hope that it would work and two ready and eager accomplices that were lucky enough to make it possible.

 _ **Author's note:**_ I am SOOOOOO sorry it's been so long since my last update. This story's not dead by a long shot I've just… had a lot of issues happening lately. Chapters may take a bit of time but they will keep coming i promise you that. Now then, for those wonderful mentions to my commenters. To Tentaclecat, I'm sorry you see her as a damsel in distress. However, a part of her character as portrayed in the actual source material portrays her as such. Though i am trying to give her more of a meaning of strength and resolve in this story of mine and a large part of that is resilience. Having played Zero myself I've seen her survive quite a bit and honestly, I feel I'm showing more of a sense of realism than said source by portraying lasting damage with no sudden recovery herb, goop juice, or tablets to turn things around… though that last one I don't like to talk about because of its games… problems. Ah! And to Kiwasaki-chan3, I'm glad you commented your input. Honestly the two of you have helped me tremendously by showing that there is a such thing as a difference in opinion of readers. I won't discredit either of you as wrong or claim either as right, but I will thank the both of you for commenting and sharing how you felt. Now I don't encourage arguments or harsh responses, but I wouldn't find too much of an issue with light discussion in points of criticism or the raising of questions others may have. Gah.. I'm dragging on though. Well, thanks guys, really, and thanks to all who have made it this far. I hope to see more soon and catch more readers attention. See ya later! *warps away*

*Peeks head back through the portal* P.S. Sorry for the heavy dialogue. There's gonna be a lot that needs explaining for a bit so it'll have to be through instances like this. But, in a bit of good news for those who may be interested, I have started to work on the next characters' story and have already decided on a date for its big opening chapter! I'll leave the name of who to the imagination of you guys but expect a new and different experience as we shadow another character's' perspective and experiences as we delve "Deeper into Darkness"!


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